On the happiness of being a Cowhey

When I first started researching my family history as a young lady, the Cowhey side of my family was a little bit frustrating for me. It was during the days before internet access and I lived quite a distance from the area where this branch of my family had lived. My visits to a genealogy library offered me no easy information. I learned how to use the Soundex system, carefully taking notes on how to find records for my Cowhey branch of the family, yet I couldn't find Cowheys anywhere. I was stumped.

Years later I realize that that same Cowhey surname is one of the biggest blessings in my family history research. It turns out that the relative rarity of the surname has enabled me to conclude that anyone living in Pennsylvania (and in particular - Schuylkill County) since the early 19th-century who was or is named Cowhey is almost certainly somehow related to me.

I began to fit together the pieces of the Cowhey family puzzle years back when I painstakingly went through U.S. Census records, logging data about various branches of the Cowhey family in Schuylkill County. After I had put together a nice family tree, I made contact with newfound relatives through the internet who had connections to the family. The additional information that they provided helped to fill in some of the gaps that I had in my research.

Thanks to the help from a handwritten family tree and word of mouth from other family members, I knew at that time that Patrick Cowhey was the patriarch of the family who had made the trip from Ireland to the United States, supposedly arriving about 1820. The specifics of his arrival were unknown to me, as was his place of origin in Ireland. (I have since found Patrick's arrival details thanks to the manifest for the Ship William which arrived in New York from the port of Cóbh in 1823. You can read that story at Fifteen and off to America).

It was with great interest that I found out a little more about the Cowhey surname in 2007 when I discovered Edward MacLysaght's Irish Families: Their Names, Arms, and Origins on the used book shelf at a genealogical library. I had almost walked by the shelf on my way out, but took a double turn and went back for a glance. The book looked interesting, so I picked it up for a nominal price and headed home. Opening it later I was thrilled to find an entry for Cowhey in the index. I wasn't used to finding Cowheys in any book I opened!

According to MacLysaght's book, Cowhey is the Munster (or more specifically County Cork) version of Coffey, a more common Irish surname. Also originating in the area are Cowhig, O'Cowhig and Cowey. All of these surnames, including Coffey, are variations of the Gaelic surname O'Cobhthaigh. You can read more about my excitement when I made this discovery by reading Victorious! here at Small-leaved Shamrock.

Here is what MacLysaght writes in Irish Families about variations of the O'Cobhthaigh surname:

O'COFFEY, Cowhig

In Irish this name is O'Cobhthaigh, pronounced O'Coffey as in English : it is probably derived from the word cobhthach, meaning victorious. Coffey is one of those surnames which have not resumed the prefix O, dropped during the period of Gaelic submergence. Several distinct septs were prominent in medieval times, of which two are still well represented in their original homeland. These are O'Coffey of Corcalaoidhe in south-west Co. Cork, where local pronounciation often makes the name Cowhig or Cowhey, as in the place name Dunocowhey, called after them. This sept is of the same stock as the O'Driscolls...

There is more in MacLysaght's book about the other septs of the Coffey family, but I will stop there and encourage you to get a copy of the book yourself. It is a great resource for all surnames Irish.

Another of MacLysaght's books, The Surnames of Ireland, has a map showing geographic locations of Irish surnames, including the area in Cork where the Cowhey family originated.

Another interesting source of information about the Cowhey name and other O'Cobhthaigh variations is Ancient Origins of the Coffey Family by Marvin D. Coffey reprinted online at the Coffey Cousins Clearinghouse website. It is a segment from the book James Bluford Coffey, His Ancestors and Descendants in America and the supplement Vol. II: Ancestors. The article has a nice list of resources at the bottom from which the historical overview of the surname was derived, including but not limited to MacLysaght's books.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief little introduction to the Cowhey surname. If you are a Cowhey, especially one with roots in Pennsylvania, I hope you'll write and let me know. I hope to keep this big, happy branch of the family in touch with eachother and aware of our fascinating roots for many generations to come.

For more about Edward MacLysaght's work on Irish surnames, read my article What's in an Irish surname?

Mr. Cowhey: a wanted man (for DNA)

I was recently contacted by the webmaster of the Coffey/Coffee Y-DNA Surname Project, Fred Coffey. He asked me to lead him to some men in the Cowhey family who would consider having their DNA tested to determine a link to the O'Cobhthaigh family of Ireland (the original surname from which Coffey and Cowhey originate).

Fred had been unaware of the Cowhey connection to the Coffey family until I wrote about it here at Small-leaved Shamrock. After making the discovery of this connection, I was happy to find the Coffey DNA project and wrote about it in response to the Carnival of Genealogy's genetic genealogy edition. This carnival, which was hosted by Blaine Bettinger of The Genetic Genealogist on November 4, got me thinking about DNA testing and what it might do for our understanding of various branches of my family, including the families that are the main focus of each of my genealogy blogs. In response to Blaine's request to send him inquiries about genetic genealogy, I wrote the following posts:

• Mr. Tierney, I presume? at A Light That Shines Again


• A rose by any other name at 100 Years in America


• Bad genes - discovered! here at Small-leaved Shamrock

An additional post, Calling all Ó Cobhthaigh, Cowhey, Coffey cousins! included a basic introduction to the value of DNA testing and specific information about the Coffey/Coffee/Cowhey project.

If you have a general interest in DNA testing and its value to family history, you may be interested in what I've written in the various posts listed above. You can also find a wealth of information on the subject of genetics and family history at Blaine Bettinger's The Genetic Genealogist.And if your name is Mr. Cowhey, you are a wanted man. If you have an interest in participating in the DNA surname project, please contact the project administrator or check out the Coffey DNA project page.

P.S. An extra bonus of doing the testing might be that you discover a link to Dr. J. Russell Coffey. Russell, the centenarian who was the last oldest remaining soldier who had served World War I, had his DNA tested and it is filed with this project. Russell was 109 when he passed away last month. If you're hoping you share his longevity gene, this might be the place to find out. (For more on his story see this video interview with Russell done by a Toledo, Ohio television station.)

Oldest World War I veteran dies at age 109

J. Russell Coffey was one-year-old at the turn of the century in the year 1900. Although he saw little action in the conflict, he is being remembered this week at his passing as the oldest veteran of World War I.

But as he once confided to his daughter, he would have preferred to be remembered more for other aspects of his life rather than his age. "Even a prune can get old," he reportedly said.

Coffey was an educator who taught in high school and college. He may have first gotten his interest in teaching when he was a young man delivering newspapers. He often read the paper to immigrants whom he delivered to. For more about the life of J. Russell Coffey see this AP article.

You may remember my earlier discussion of DNA and the Cowhey connection to the Coffey/Coffee/Ó Cobhthaigh family. More than likely, J. Russell Coffey is probably a very distant cousin of our branch of the Cowhey family. Jack Coffey at the Coffee/Coffey call weblog described J. Russell Coffey's family history here.

According to Betty Jo Larsen, J. Russell Coffey's daughter, her father had a wonderful memory and way very independent, even driving a car up until age 104 and living alone until age 105.

Let's hope our Cowhey side of the family shares the same genes.

Calling all Ó Cobhthaigh, Cowhey, Coffey cousins!

Thanks to my discovery of the original Gaelic version of the Cowhey surname and a link on the Coffee/Coffey Call genealogy blog, I've found the DNA project for the Ó Cobhthaigh surname and all of its derivations.

Knowing that Cowhey was such an uncommon name, I never thought I'd find a group like this, yet here it is!

Why am I so interested in this project?

As I mentioned on a A Light That Shines Again, a blog about the related Tierney family's genealogy, I've been tracing the various branches of my family tree for a long time. My efforts, however, have gotten me back only a couple of centuries. Genetic genealogy, however, offers the opportunity to learn about a family's deep ancestry, and enables others who share the same surname within their genealogy to determine just how they might related.

A simple cheek swab test can provide information about your patrilineal family tree many generations back, particularly with regard to where the family originated. It can also provide you with connections to other descendants of the same family line that are living today - distant cousins who share the same heritage. This information can be shared with others through a Y-DNA surname project like the one mentioned above.

Because of the nature of patrilineal genetics (identical genes passed down from the father to son, father to son, father to son, and so on...), you must be male to test Y-line DNA. (The other type of frequently used DNA test is matrilineal or mitochondrial DNA, otherwise known as mtDNA. For more information see the Ireland Heritage mtDNA project.)

Take a look at the frequently asked questions section (under the For Newbies tab on the left sidebar) on the International Society of Genetic Genealogy website for more information about how DNA testing works and what information it can provide.

If your name is Mr. Cowhey or Mr. Coffey (or if you use the Gaelic surname Ó Cobhthaigh), and you are interested in learning about your genetic heritage, contact the Coffey/Coffee Y-DNA Surname Project.

Similar projects are available for other Irish surnames (not to mention surnames of other backgrounds). You can find more information on some Irish surname projects at Irish Heritage DNA Project and the Ireland Heritage Y-DNA Project Family Tree DNA, although the list is by no means exhaustive. (Tierney and Kennedy, for example, surnames for which I know that there are projects available, are not listed on Irish Heritage.) It's exciting to be researching family history now that technology is aiding us in so many amazing ways, including the area of genetics. Genealogy has never been as easy or as rewarding.

For further information about genetic genealogy see the Carnival of Genealogy on genetics at The Genetic Genealogist.

Victorious!

After many years of researching our Cowhey family heritage, one thing is very clear to me: it is a very uncommon name. I have often wondered where the name originated and why so few Cowheys exist. I also wondered, having seen similar last names in English families, if possibly Cowhey could have originated as an English last name. Vaguely I remembered reading somewhere that the Cowheys were related to another larger family branch of Ireland, the Coffeys, but could not remember where I had seen it.

Thanks to an old book I picked up, Irish Families: Their Names, Arms & Origins by Edward MacLysaght (1957), I have the answer. (Cover of current edition at left.)

MacLysaght, at the time of publication, was the Chairman of the Irish Manuscripts Commission and also formerly Chief Herald of Ireland. MacLysaght's book is very well researched and indexed.

As I often do when I find a book on Irish surnames, I opened immediately to the index in the back, bracing myself for the fact that my Cowhey surname wouldn't be there. (I've had this experience many times.) But, surprise, there it was! One small page reference, but happily, Cowhey was mentioned in the index.

I turned to the page and found the following:

O'COFFEY, Cowhig.

In Irish this name is Ó Cobhthaigh, pronounced O'Coffey as in English: it is probably derived from the word cobhthach, meaning "victorious". Coffey is one of those surnames which have not resumed the prefix O, dropped during the period of Gaelic submergence. Several distinct septs were prominent in mediaeval times, of which two are still well represented in their original homeland. These are O'Coffey of Corcalaoidhe in south-west Co. Cork, where local pronounciation often makes the name Cowhig or Cowhey, as in the place name Duncowhey, called after them. This sept is the same stock as that of the O'Driscolls...

So Ó Cobhthaigh it is! Below is the family's coat of arms, bearing a green background and three Irish cups.

After finding the Cowhey family in Irish Families, I found another source with similar information. According to The Surnames of Ireland, Cowhey is Gaelic for "descendant of Cobhthach (victorious)". Our particular Cowhey branch is probably a sept of Corcu Lóighdhe in west Cork related to the O’Driscolls. The family was seated at Dun Ui Chobhthaigh (Duncowhey) in the barony of Barryroe.

After so many years of wondering, it is a good feeling to have an indication of the area in Ireland where the Cowhey family probably originated: County Cork.

But as all new family history discoveries do, this one opens up a whole new set of questions. Where in County Cork did our Patrick Cowey come from? What records would have this information? I need more information before I can determine our own Patrick Cowey's connection to the county. And before I can plan that trip to Ireland...